To my mind, it is just these sorts of cases that the police need to know about most in order to break the cycle of attack and counterattack.
With the approach of the primary here, which became even more pivotal because of Mr. McCain's resounding New Hampshire victory, the shrillness of the cycle of attack-and-response has all but drowned everything else out.
Public frustration with the violence was echoed in newspaper columns, with writers lamenting what they said was the government's lack of either a military or political strategy to break the cycle of attack and retaliation.
There are fears that the cycle of attack and retribution is already beyond the control of the security forces - and may soon be beyond that of political leaders too.
Mr. Bush, asked about the Middle East on almost a daily basis since he left the White House to spend the month at his home in Crawford, Tex., has responded with variations on his call for an end to the cycle of attack and counterattack.
And, ultimately, the cycle of attack and apology, of disagreement and boycott, will leave us with fewer and fewer people talking more and more about less and less... the bottom line is, you don't beat an idea by beating a person.
Arresting the cycle of Palestinian attacks and Israeli reprisals is still Washington's most urgent Mideast goal.
After 10 years in prison, he claims he was determined to overcome the cycle of revenge attacks, territorial battles and police repression that made his country a byword for violence.
"No one can deny the fact that if the cycle of terrorist attack followed by government curtailment of civil liberties continues, America will eventually lose the key attribute that has made it great, namely, freedom," Timothy Lynch, director of Cato's project on criminal justice, wrote in a position paper.
